Induction with gel

[Pesca77]

For various reasons, it looks as though I'll be induced 2 wks before my due date. My OB really wants to still keep it as natural as possible, so will opt for the gel instead of drip.

I have not been bothered by the induction at all TBH....until I started reading threads on Bubhub about people being so scared!!

What should I expect when being induced in this way? What are the possible 'real' issues or things to be mindful of? I've googled but the lists give you a huge variance, I'd rather real experiences. I honestly didn't think I had that much to worry about!

[babyla]

Hi Pesca, I was induced with the gel, with my DS nearly 1 year ago at 38weeks due to blood pressure issues.

I went in at 6.30am and had 1 dose. They offered me panadeine forte, I declined. We went out for breakfast, waiting for something to happen. Nothing really happening. I went back for my second dose a few hours later and within 20 minutes I was in a wheelchair and up to the labour ward. The 2nd dose had overstimulated my uterus and I was getting no break in contractions. I never dilated past 3cm either. I think the thing with the gel perhaps is see how you go with the single dose and don't rush for the second, although what happened with me is extremely unusual. I ended up with an emergency c-section. Next time, I will be having an elective c-section.

I really don't think you have much to worry about, for lots and lots of women induction is a great experience. A friend of mine was induced 2 weeks ago, laboured naturally in 7 hours. But it is good to be informed and aware.

[Gracie's Mum]

I had the gel inserted at about 8am, immediately after it was inserted I had cramping that turned very vicious very fast and i was in labour! 4 hours later my DD was born, completely natural no tears or anything. My birth was fantastic! Don't let people scare you. Everyone's experience is different. Not all inductions are terrible. I too was terrified about it mainly from the bubhub forum but it was easy peezy and straight forward. No drip or monitoring at all in my case, 1 dose was enough to start things up.

Good luck, you'll be fine xx

[Busy-Bee]

Hi
Unfortunately the gel may not necessarily work or even get things started. If there is no progress of labour within a certain time frame you will more than likely escalate to having the syntocin drip to start labour. (I had 2 lots of gel with DS and got some pre labour contractions but that was it so ended up with a syntocin induced labour.)

The concern with a syntocin induced labour is two-fold. Firstly, labour is often more painful as there is no natural build up of contractions. (I can testify to this!) Whilst pain relief is available you may find that you want an epidural which again adds another level of risk/complexity to the labour (you will be bed-ridden, unable to optimise baby's position during labour and birth, effect of drugs on birth, your body and your baby's body, residual effects of epi).

Secondly, a syntocin induced labour greatly decreases your chances of a standard vaginal birth. I have been on BH for over 5 years and I've yet to hear of a woman receiving all the information about the risks of induction and alternatives available. The following stats are from RANZCOG (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obs and Gyns) and are taken from 67,703 induced labours between 2001 and 2007.
Vaginal - 44.9%
Instrument Delivery - 24.6%
C-Sect - 30.4%
To put it another way, if an OB is pushing for induction and hasn't told you you have a 30% chance of having an emergency C-Sect they haven't done their job. Instrument deliveries can be traumatic to both mother and baby and may cause severe tearing. (My DS was induced and it was a vacuum delivery and I was left with a 3rd degree tear which had I been unlucky may have rendered my incontinent.)
Very often I and others who post regularly about the risks of induction are accused of scare-mongering but this is most definitely not our intention. We post to provide information so that women can make an informed decision. I make no pretense about having the knowledge or experience that a midwife or OB has - I am just using their own statistics to show the risks involved in induction.

My best advice would be that if an OB or Midwife is talking induction ask them about the risks and don't accept "high" or "low", ask for actual numbers. Ask about alternatives such as regular monitoring. Remember that if you have a longer cycle than 28 days you will have a slightly longer gestation period so your due date may be a few days after what is expected.

I believe another risk of induction is uterine rupture but I have no stats for this.

Best of luck with everything

[~Marigold~]

My waters broke on their own but after almost 2 days of irregular contractions I was induced. They used the gel first, which did nothing. I was given the gel in the morning and spent the day in the hospital walking around etc to try and help move things along, but it just didn't work. Then I was put on the drip; it started things moving very slowly so they eventually upped the dose and I went from scattered, irregular contractions to very regular (around every 90 seconds) contractions. They come hard and fast with induction. My DS was not induced and my labour with him was a slow ease (from 15 minutes aparts to a minute apart over 24 hours) into full on labour, where as with DD it was zero- intense very quickly.

*Added: With my induction I was able to have a vaginal birth, (I did have an epidural) no instruments used, on my back, no tear/cutting, pushing took 5 minutes or so. All this with my DD in posterior position, so I guess I ended up lucky. Everyone is different.

[caribbean]

I had gel at 38 weeks due to pre-existing medical condition.

The gel worked instantly and I had contractions within half an hour.
Although the gel worked quickly in starting the contractions I still had a 24 hour labour ending with a second degree tear and every drug offered. But I can tell you I wouldn't change a thing! I would happily do it all over again.

Everyone is different, i just kept an open mind the whole time and focused on a healthy baby. Goodluck!

[MummaOJ]

I had gel, worked immediately but slow to progress, syntocin after 10hrs with ARM ending in csection after another 8 hrs. I don't regret or blame anyone for how it ended up, was just glad baby was ok. Induction was due to medical reasons. I was allowed to labour in the shower which not many hospitals allow due to wanting to keep the monitors on.
I know many people who have had good gel inductions with no other intervention required. Best of luck.

[Pesca77]

Bec - thank-you very much for that info. I will ask more specific questions at my next OB appointment. For now he has just asked me to consider it, certainly not pushing it.

So if you have the gel, do you typically stay in hospital as labour can happen quite quickly then? It's not a matter of having the gel and being sent home to 'wait'?

[MummaOJ]

My hospital put it in at night as they give you 12hrs before putting another lot in (you get 3 attempts I think) so you stay in hospital.

[~Marigold~]

Bec - thank-you very much for that info. I will ask more specific questions at my next OB appointment. For now he has just asked me to consider it, certainly not pushing it.

So if you have the gel, do you typically stay in hospital as labour can happen quite quickly then? It's not a matter of having the gel and being sent home to 'wait'?

You stay in once they induce you... they wouldn't want you giving birth in the carpark on your way to the car haha